Stockholm Syndrome

At the end of May we headed off to Sweden’s capital Stockholm for a weekend of Nordic cool. Well, actually, when I say Stockholm, I mean an hour away by bus – Ryanair may be cheap but its airports are usually out of the way.
Scandinavia has always appealed as a holiday destination because of its design aesthetic (lots of clean lines, pale wood and quirky touches) and beautiful scenery. We decided on Stockholm, as it seemed to be the most interesting capital.



So far during our time in Europe, we’d stayed in cheap and cheerful hotels, but this time we decided to treat ourselves by booking a room in a flash ‘design’ hotel – the Nordic Light. Design hotels are renowned for their design (of course), attention to detail and above all cool. The Nordic Light’s claim to fame is its light features – the rooms have light boxes with coloured lights in them, and the lobby also is surrounded in changing coloured lights. In a country with almost all day darkness in winter, light is very important!
We got a Nordic Love Package, which meant we got a deluxe room with heart lights projected onto the wall and the bed, a light box bedhead which we could control ourselves, a bottle of champagne, chocolates, some spa products and room service breakfast. All very luxurious.




We did manage to tear ourselves away from our super cool hotel room and get out and explore Stockholm, which turned out to be a great place to spend a weekend. Central Stockholm is built on 14 islands and is easily walkable. The first afternoon we were there we walked through Gamla Stan, the island with the Old Town on it. This was your typical Old Town in Europe – cobbled streets, old buildings, lots of tourists, and tacky souvenir shops.

The next day, after a hearty Swedish breakfast of rolls, salami, cheese, pepper, fruit and croissants, we headed to Djugarden, an island where Stockholmites go for picnics, strolls and amusement parks. You can walk to the island from the mainland, but you can also take a short ferry ride from there to Gamla Stan, which we decided to do on the way back.



That night we went for dinner at a bar-restaurant serving modern Swedish food. No Swedish meatballs unfortunately, but we did have a lovely seared beef patty with capers, beetroot and dill. Bizarrely, on our way to the restaurant we walked through a park which had lots of wild rabbits hopping around. Only in Sweden!



After bidding a sad farewell to our hotel the next day, we went to Stockholm’s modern art museum on another of the islands. This had a lot of sculptures and interactive art as well as paintings and was definitely worth a visit. Then a final meal in Stockholm of marinated herrings, rye bread and cinnamon buns before heading back out to the airport to fly back to London.
All in all a great weekend away. Stockholm really is as beautiful as the guidebooks describe, and quite different looking from other places we’ve visited so far. Its proximity to the water, its old buildings, and friendly people make it definitely worth a trip.